WATCH: “The Birth Of A Nation” Trailer

Here’s a first look at the award-winning biopic about the man who led America’s bloodiest slave revolt.

Fox Searchlight released the first trailer of the eagerly anticipated Sundance Film Festival sensation The Birth of a Nation on Friday, Varietyreports.

The film is set in the slave-holding South during the 1830s. It tells the story of Nat Turner, a literate Black preacher who makes a deal with his cash-strapped master to convince disobedient slaves to conform to their bondage. But after witnessing one too many atrocities, Turner leads a mass slave rebellion.

Scenes in this powerful trailer unfold to Nina Simone’s rendition of Billie Holiday’s iconic “Strange Fruit,” a haunting song about hangings in the South.

Nate Parkerwon this year’s CinemaCon Breakthrough Director of the Year award for this film, which he directed, wrote, produced, and starred in. The Birth of a Nation also won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for drama at Sundance.

Fox Searchlight acquired the biopic for $17.5 million—a record deal for a Sundance flick, according to Variety. It’s scheduled to open in theaters on Oct. 7.